A great end to a great week

The weeks continue to fly by and we love to hear from Soeur Holt. Her week began with a Georgia state themed lunch where Soeur Moore, who is going home in 2 weeks, taught us how to make the food of her home; Soeur t and I made lemonade with strawberries in as well, and a salad; on the table we also had macaroni and cheese, fried chicken and biscuits (like the American scone kind) lots of carbohydrates and saturated fat- we were happy that we had made a salad. We were also excited to see photos posted by the missionary couple who serve in Guadeloupe.

As part of Soeur Holt and T’s responsibilities as Sister Training Leaders they attend a Mission Leadership Council. This is with the other leaders from the mission- because of the spread out nature of the mission area they will often attend via Skype. An MLC gives people an opportunity to discuss how the work of the missionaries can become better. We read and discussed 2 Nephi 4 together- it is a beautiful chapter, it teaches us to trust in God and never doubt his plans. We discussed a new way of planning and that we should use Book of Mormon scriptures that are personally meaningful and impactful so that we can testify with the heart. We are always refining ourselves as the Lord’s instruments. As his representatives we should consider what the Lord would have me change within my heart to help me come closer to Christ

The Sisters continue to teach people old and new. In one lesson with the young man they have been teaching we taught and spoke about obtaining a personal conversion and what we can do to get that. He was hilarious though- we did the lesson at the park and he drives up in his white Audi with his rapper sunglasses and his recently bleached hair with his music blasting- he was loving it (the Audi is his mum’s he had borrowed it for the day!).

With the young lady who has had to postpone her baptism for health reasons on one occasion we read Alma 34 together. And then later in the week we had a really powerful lesson after discussing the entire situation and all of us feeling very confused we decided to offer a kneeling prayer together. Asking Heavenly Father to help us to find a solution and what we should do- one of those moments when the spirit is tangible and unforgettable. She wants to be baptised here in Guadeloupe and will do what she has to do!

Soeur Holt went on exchanges with the Abymes Sisters this week (Soeurs Atkins and Moore)- my first as an STL! I was so nervous especially because it was with Soeur Moore, she is so amazing and I love her so much but she has already served as STL and she is very close to the end of her mission- I questioned what I could help her with. We visited some less actives because I knew where they lived and some contacting and some suivis that evening. We saw an amazing miracle on the Thursday evening- we contacted a lady. She invited us back the next morning but not until she had explained to us that since arriving in Guadeloupe from Colombia she had not been to church because she doesn’t feel as though they are based on a study of the word of God. During our companionship study that evening we used the new approach to planning and decided that our invitation would be to come to Church with us. The next morning she accepted the invitation to come to church. She is a young married mother of a new born baby and as we left Soeur Moore and I were so excited. We went and helped at Soeur Bordin’s home to set up for the Relief Society activity that they were hosting for the three pregnant members including Danielle [a lady who Soeur Holt met last year and who we were able to meet at the Paris Temple]!! We grabbed a bokit and headed back for the switch over in Baie Mahault; side point I loved driving their car a brand new Renault! (hint hint!) On that note we had to go and get quotations on our car for an exchange for a Renault capture. Who ever knew that a mission would teach me how to work with car dealers and in French too?!!

One night while contacting Soeur Eclar and her two young children pulled over- she said ok this is for a reason we are going to contact with the sisters. We spoke to an Adventist couple who already had a Book of Mormon and then met a gentleman called Franz; we spoke a lot with him and it was great to have Soeur Eclar there, he questions the existence of God and believes that destiny contradicts the idea of a loving God- we have a lesson with him this coming week. I learnt a lesson from Soeur Eclar who has missionary work written on her heart!

We also had a description of a lesson that seemed to be a ‘you had to be there moment.’ That evening we had a lesson with a new family. It is one of the most hilarious lessons that I have ever been part of- Haitian Creole, evangelist prayers, amens and flying hug night bugs. I can’t communicate the funniness by email I feel like this might be one that has to wait until I am with you to tell! So funny- Soeur T cried she was laughing so much! We have a return appointment next week!

Sunday- Church was good- both young men came and both of them fasted! That lunch time we headed over to Fred’s- we had been invited with the family Bordin from Abymes- Fred is their grandmother- what a way to do missionary work- inviting the sisters over to grandma’s, Fred can cook let me tell you- gratin, lamb salad and homemade juice!

We then headed over to Soeur David’s but she wasn’t actually home- she is in France. The Montredons are villa sitting whilst she is away, it is my dream home- pool and sitting area looking over a creek- perfect interiors mixed antiques with modern. While there we role played with our ami [one of the young men they are teaching] for contacting (he wants us to help him prepare for his mission!)

So cool and off we went we contacted a couple of people and that evening when we went to the Eclar’s home this same young man was buzzing telling us about all the conversations he had had and how many Book of Mormons he had given out- he asked if he can go contacting with us every Sunday afternoon!! Of course!!